Bichette comes up clutch, leads Blue Jays to first series victory

TORONTO – Bo Bichette touched the first base bag, began clapping his hands vigorously and then stared across the diamond into the Toronto Blue Jays’ dugout before raising his arms.

It was a strong show of emotion in the eighth inning from the Blue Jays shortstop, who has spent the season’s opening week reminding his teammates — and the fans at Rogers Centre — of the Bo Bichette they once knew. 

But if there was any validation for Bichette in coming through during a big moment, he wasn’t saying so. 

“Big hit and went ahead late in the game,” Bichette said afterward.

With two outs in the eighth inning on Tuesday night and the Blue Jays and Washington Nationals deadlocked at 3-3, Bichette quickly went down 0-2 in the count to hard-throwing left-hander Jose Ferrer. 

He fouled off an 89-m.p.h. changeup down in the zone, then Ferrer went inside on Bichette with a 98.4-m.p.h. sinker. It’s an incredibly tough pitch to make contact with, much less do something substantial with. 

Yet, Bichette was able to pull his hands into his body enough to get his bat to the ball. He sent a bouncer up the first-base line to drive in two runs in what stood up as the game-winning hit of the Blue Jays’ 5-3 victory over the Nationals.

Bichette was asked after the game if he was surprised he was able to keep the ball fair. 

“No,” he said with a smile, later adding that he prepared himself to be able to handle that pitch. 

“That’s really it. I prepare for that and once the game goes, I just try to let that happen.”

Batting leadoff in each of the Blue Jays’ six games, Bichette is looking more and more like the player who twice led the American League in hits and less like the hitter who posted a .598 OPS during an injury-filled 2024. The pending free agent has collected nine hits in 24 at-bats and has showed off a strong plate approach. 

All the talk around the club during spring training was that Bichette arrived at camp on a mission and now that’s playing out during the season.

“He’s having good at-bats,” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider. “Bo has just been really consistent since the day he reported to camp. Big-time spot, big-time hit.”

Added Jose Berrios, Tuesday’s starter: “He’s got his confidence back… It’s fun to watch him do what he can do out there.”

Berrios himself was dominant at times in the early frames against a Nationals starting lineup that featured four left-handed batters and two switch-hitters. For a while it looked like he’d be able to secure the 100^th win of his career.

The right-hander allowed just one hit entering the sixth inning, but that’s when he ran into trouble. He left a cutter high in the zone to Keibert Ruiz and the Nationals’ No. 3 hitter drove it into right-field to cash in two runs and cut the Blue Jays’ lead to 3-2. Berrios was replaced by right-hander Yariel Rodriguez, who walked a batter to load the bases before inducing a fly out from Luis Garcia Jr.

In the next frame, Rodriguez allowed a runner to reach third and Schneider opted to bring in left-hander Mason Fluharty to make his major-league debut against the left-handed hitting CJ Abrams.

It was undoubtedly a tough spot for the 23-year-old Fluharty, who threw five straight sweepers, the last of which Abrams belted to right field for a double that tied the game, 3-3.

“We knew that it was going to come down to him and Abrams at some point,” said Schneider of Fluharty. “So, it’s tough. But I think you got to trust that the guys are here for a reason and their stuff is what it is. And, you know, it was just one bad pitch, one too many breaking balls. Other than that, I thought he did a good job.”

Berrios had been in line for the win to that point. The right-hander allowed two runs on four hits over 5.2 innings and 95 pitches, walking three and striking out eight. He relied heavily on his slurve and sinker and generated eight total whiffs while mixing in his three other pitches.

“Honestly, I was missing my target,” Berrios said of his struggles in the sixth. “I was leaving the ball more on the plate. But I was trying to compete. So, I threw quality pitches and they did a pretty good job on them.”

Berrios covered enough outs to allow the Blue Jays to pencil left-hander Easton Lucas in to start Wednesday’s series finale against the Nationals, while Kevin Gausman’s next start will be pushed to Friday at Citi Field in the New York Mets’ home opener. 

That game was supposed to be Max Scherzer’s spot in the rotation and earlier on Tuesday, the right-hander spoke to media about his recent trip to visit a hand specialist. Scherzer, who was placed on the 15-day injured list on Sunday, said that his troublesome right thumb won’t require surgery at this point and instead he received a cortisone shot to quell inflammation in the digit. 

The 40-year-old noted that he received two cortisone shots in his thumb last year and typically his body responds well to the injection. He hopes to play catch on Friday and reevaluate how his thumb feels after that. 

“You’ll take any of an amount of any pain to get back out there,” Scherzer said. “Pain is not the problem. The pain is not being able to pitch and be out there, that’s what stinks. We all go through stuff. We all have ailments. No one’s always healthy. And so, you just deal with that as a professional athlete. But not playing is the worst part.”

There’s no timeline for his return, but the path back is at least clearer now.

The Blue Jays’ starting pitching depth is a cause for concern, but the lineup, while not yet fully clicking on all cylinders, has shown signs of promise while helping the club to four wins in six games to open the season. 

Bichette, for his part, likes what he sees from the hitters. 

“Just competitive at-bats from everybody, whether guys are feeling good or not,” said Bichette. “Making it tough on the pitcher throughout the whole game, whether we’re winning, whether we’re losing. Just competing for the whole game.”

Bichette certainly embodied that on Tuesday, however he’s not putting too much stock in the fact that he looks like himself again.  

“I never doubted my ability or what I can do on the field,” he said. “It’s just about getting back in the right (frame of) mind. It’s a long season, so I’m excited to be doing well, but it’s a long season.”

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